


Winter's Vengeance

by theawkwardnothing



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Hurt Leo, I suck at writing CaLeo sorry, Jason Grace is a Good Friend, Khione Hates Leo, Khione wants revenge, Leo Jason and Piper friendship, Leo Valdez Is Not Dead, Leo Valdez Needs a Hug, Minor Calypso/Leo Valdez, Protective Jason Grace, Protective Piper McLean, Protective Will Solace, Sick Leo Valdez, Whump, leo valdez whump, pretty much shameless Leo whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:20:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22042459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theawkwardnothing/pseuds/theawkwardnothing
Summary: Attempting to return to camp from Ogygia, Leo and Calypso are intercepted by someone who has more than a little contempt for Leo after her embarrassing defeat. Caught off their guard, Leo is captured, and Calypso is forced to rush to camp for help in rescuing him. How much of a certain snow goddess' rage can be unleashed before Leo's friends, who thought he was dead, can come to his rescue? (pretty much unapologetic Leo whump -- takes place after BoO, pretty much ignores ToA)
Relationships: Calypso & Leo Valdez, Jason Grace & Leo Valdez, Jason Grace & Piper McLean & Leo Valdez, Piper McLean & Leo Valdez
Comments: 40
Kudos: 138





	1. Lost in the Storm

“I hate to say this, but I think we’re lost,” Leo said. Festus creaked a little in response. “I take that back, we’re definitely lost.”  
“I was afraid this might happen,” Calypso muttered. “Are we still trapped in Ogygia?”  
“I don’t think so. At least, Festus says no.”  
“Well, don’t you think that instead of flying blind through these clouds, maybe we should land and figure out where we are? Assuming we’re over land and not a massive ocean.” A harsh wind blew through, chilling the pair. Calypso huddled closer to Leo. “It also feels like there’s a storm blowing in. It’s getting cold.”  
“Good thing you’ve got a flaming hot boyfriend to keep you warm,” Leo flirted.  
“Just don’t burn me, dork,” Calypso grumbled into Leo’s back.  
“I could never,” Leo said. Just as Leo moved to direct Festus downwards, a harsher gust of wind blew in, jolting the metal dragon sideways. Snow flew at them violently, stinging their skin.  
“Remember what I said about landing?” Calypso said, trying to shield her face from the snowy onslaught.  
“Working on it,” Leo said. “Festus, let’s find some land, shall we?” Festus dipped down, where Leo and Calypso were finally able to see beneath the clouds. There was a shoreline in the distance, their new landing target. Another gust of wind blew in, pushing the metal dragon towards the shore. Festus creaked at the sudden force, and the snow around them picked up, blowing harsher than before.  
“This is really starting to sting!” Leo yelled over the wind.  
“Ow!” Calypso yelled, pulling her hand to her arm. A small cut had appeared, left by the icy storm surrounding them. More ice shards flew at them, leaving several abrasions on the faces and arms.  
“C’mon Festus,” Leo muttered, leaning close to the dragon to avoid the wind. “Get us to that shore.” The shoreline was nearing, but the storm was intensifying even further.  
“It’s almost like the weather is mad at us!” Calypso yelled, huddling close to Festus to avoid the storm. “You haven’t enraged any weather gods lately, have you?”  
“I may or may not have enraged a certain… snow goddess during the war with Gaea. You know, the one I died in?” Festus was nearing the shore now, but his wings were moving slower, and Leo could tell something was wrong. “Let’s just hope it’s not her.”  
“Wonderful,” Calypso yelled.  
“Just a little father Festus, c’mon,” Leo muttered, rubbing the dragon’s neck. “Almost there.” Festus’s joints groaned with every movement, and Leo could see some frost forming in worrying places. When he saw the frost near the head, he grew worried.  
“Now, don’t freak out, but I think we’re going to crash,” Leo said.  
“We’re going to what?” Calypso yelled. Suddenly, Festus’s head jerked to the side as a final gust of wind blew them over land. The metal dragon’s eyes went dark for a moment, and they began to plunge to the ground at an alarming speed.  
“I said we’re going to crash!” Leo yelled as the dragon spiraled toward the ground.  
“We have to jump!” Calypso yelled, grabbing Leo by the waist.  
“We have to wha-” Leo couldn’t finish his sentence before Calypso vaulted them off of the dragon just before impact, directing them into a nearby snowbank. Festus hit the ground with a loud crash, and Calypso landed on Leo in the snowbank. She stood quickly, trying to drag Leo up. Leo’s chest was tight as he sat up, and he motioned for Calypso to wait.  
“H-hold on,” Leo wheezed, “knocked the wind out of me.”  
“Well we need to get out of this storm before these ice shards get big enough to hurt us!” Calypso yelled, practically dragging Leo off the ground and shoving him to a nearby building. She tried the door, but it wouldn’t budge. “Wouldn’t happen to have a magic key in the tool belt by any chance?” Leo shook his head, but reached into the tool belt, pulling out a lock pick instead. Calypso huffed, snatching the tools. Within a minute, the lock clicked and the door popped open.  
“A lot of locks to pick on Ogygia?” Leo mumbled, pushing them both inside before closing the door.  
“No, but a lot of weaving. How different can it be?” Leo shook his head.  
“And you called me a dork.”  
“Shut up, hot head,” Calypso grumbled, looking out the small window. “Well this storm’s not clearing any time soon, so I guess we’re stuck here for a while. What are we going to do?”  
“I could think of a few ways to pass the time,” Leo winked at Calypso, grinning.  
“You’re unbearable,” Calypso said with a laugh, finding a few blankets on a shelf next to the window. She tossed one to Leo, sitting next to him. He pulled her in kissing the top of her head.  
“Please, I’m one of a kind,” Leo whispered into her hair, pulling the blankets over them. Calypso let out a small laugh, leaning into Leo and closing her eyes.  
“Whatever you say, dork,” she mumbled, sleep quickly filling her mind. Leo just pulled her closer in response, and they fell asleep curled up together.


	2. Ambushed

Leo and Calypso were awakened by a sliver of sunshine creeping through the window in the shed. Leo ran his hand through Calypso’s hair as she opened her eyes. 

“I think we slept a little longer than planned,” he mumbled into her hair. “But the storm’s past, and there’s a certain dragon I need to work on.” Calypso groaned, sitting up. Leo stood up.

“Well get out there then, repair boy,” Calypso said. “I’ll go and try to figure out where we are.” Leo nodded, opening the door and running over to Festus.

“Alright buddy, let’s see what’s wrong with you,” Leo said. He allowed his hands to ignite, melting the frost off of the metal plates. He made quick work of the minor wing damage he found, pulling various tools, wires, and small metal plates from his tool belt. “That was quite a storm…” Leo mumbled to himself. “How did you freeze though? It doesn’t make any sense, you shouldn’t freeze.” At this, Leo finished the repairs on Festus’ body. He climbed down, tapping Festus as he went. “You should turn on now.” He stood at Festus’s feet, waiting for movement. When nothing happened, he huffed. “Really?” He knocked on the chestplate before stepping back to survey the metal dragon again. He cocked his head sideways when noticed some remaining frost by the ears. “I thought I defrosted you.” Leo climbed Festus again, crawling up to his head. There was a worryingly large circle of frost around Festus’s head. “This looks like…” Leo trailed off, remembering his teasing conversation with Calypso from the day before when they were escaping the storm. He allowed his hands to light up again, and he began defrosting the important parts in Festus’s head. “I swear, if it’s you, I’m gonna-”

“Uh, Leo?” Calypso’s voice emerged. 

“Just give me one sec babe, I’m almost done here,” Leo said, finishing the wiring on Festus’s head and closing the plate. “What’s up?” He leaned to the side, peeking out from behind Festus’s head. 

“Uh, a bit of a situation, repair boy, if you don’t mind,” Calypso said, a frantic tone to her voice. 

“Oh,” Leo’s voice dropped, seeing the scene beneath him. 

“Nice to see you again, fire boy,” a poorly dressed Boread yelled, holding Calypso at knife point. “Get off the dragon.”

“Hold on, hold on,” Leo slowly started sliding down Festus’s side. He put his hands up when he touched the ground. “You know, I could’ve sworn Piper blew you to bits on my ship.”

“That was unfortunate, what the pretty girl did. But I am immortal, you know,” Zethes grumbled. “Enough small talk though.” Leo took a few steps forward. “Stop right there!” Zethes yelled, pushing the knife further into Calypso’s throat, drawing some blood. 

“Okay, okay!” Leo yelled, stopping. He was starting to panic. He looked at Calypso, wondering why she hadn’t used her magic at all. Calypso seemed to practically read his mind before she spoke.

“Sorry, magic’s a little broken, Leo. I seemed to get myself into a bit of a… situation.,” Calypso said.

“You think?” Leo asked. “What do you want, you creepy ice guy?” Zethes grinned. 

“Revenge,” Zethes said. 

“Leo, look out!” Calypso yelled.

“Wha-” Calais emerged behind Leo, hitting him over the head with a large tree branch. Leo’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed forward into the snow. 

“Destroy!” Cal yelled, “Fire bad!”

“Leo!” Calypso yelled, elbowing Zethes in the gut and springing free from his grip. 

“Ow! You’re very pretty, but that wasn’t very nice!” Zethes yelled, swinging his sword. He clipped Calypso’s leg, stopping her retreat. Calypso stood shakily, backing away towards Leo and Festus while keeping Zethes and Cal in her sight. 

“Look, I don’t know what you want with us-”

“Us?” Zethes exclaimed, laughing. “We don’t care about  _ you _ . Fire-boy over there, however, we have a bone to pick with. His dragon incinerated us, and our sister isn’t very happy with him either.”

“Look, how about you just let us go, and I won’t hurt you, okay?” Calypso said. “I’m a sorceress. Don’t make me use my magic.” She held her hands out in front of her, ready to fight. 

“You said your magic wasn’t working,” Zethes grumbled, taking a few hesitant steps forward. Calypso smiled at his hesitation. 

“Care to find out?” Calypso was standing over Leo now. She tried not to let any emotion show on her face when she saw the red in the snow. She took that emotion, however, and tried to channel it into her magic. If she couldn’t get it to work now, they were screwed. 

“Destroy!” Cal yelled, advancing on Calypso. She pushed her hands towards him, trying to control the winds to push him aside, but she was only able to conjure a small breeze. She rolled out of the way of Cal’s path, but found herself at Zethes’ feet. 

“That was a nice breeze,” he said, twirling his finger in Calypso’s hair. She smacked his hand away. 

“Fine.” Zethes pulled his sword back, and brought the hilt down on Calypso’s head. She fell to the ground, unconscious. “C’mon Cal, let’s get fire boy over here back to our sister.” Cal grunted, and each Boread took one of Leo’s arms and lifted him into the air. “Now the fun begins.” He grinned. 

* * *

Calypso woke to metal creaking next to her, and a large metal nose nudging her. 

“Festus?” she mumbled, sitting up in the snow. “What-” Her eyes drifted to where Leo had lay in the snow, scanning the imprint in the snow, the footprints around it, and the blood. 

“Leo!” she yelled, running to the spot. She turned her attention to the footsteps, but was quickly disappointed when she noticed they vanished. “Of course they can fly!” She whipped around to Festus, who was now operational. She rubbed his nose. “You didn’t happen to see where they went, did you?” A disappointed creak told her that Festus would be of no use in finding Leo. Calypso let out a frustrated yell. “What are we going to do? I can’t believe I was so  _ weak _ , I just let that stupid ice freak take me hostage, and now they have Leo, and, and….” she trailed off, tangling her fingers in her hair. She climbed on Festus. “Did he fix your navigation system?” Calypso asked, opening Festus’s head plate. The new wiring, coupled with a creak from Festus, have Calypso a definitive answer. “Good. Let’s find Leo.”

* * *

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she and Festus circled Quebec for what seemed like the eightieth time. 

“Ugh, where are those snow demons? I swear, when I get my hands on them-” Calypso stopped, hugging Festus’s neck as best she could. “Who am I kidding, I can’t find them alone right now.” She sighed. “Where can I get help?” Festus creaked and groaned, and redirected them south. He let a small puff of fire out of his nose, indicating his frustration as well. 

“You’re right,” Calypso admitted. “We need to go to camp. Take me there.” With a heavy heart, Calypso flew away from Quebec, and away from Leo. She closed her eyes, focusing on Leo. “You don’t get to leave me, not like the others did.” At that, she turned her back on Quebec and flew full speed to Long Island Sound.


	3. The Ice Room

Leo woke to a bucket of ice cold water being splashed onto his face, plastering his curly hair to his forehead and soaking his clothes. He let out a cry of surprise, trying to back away from the source of water as he wiped his eyes. When he regained his vision, he found the unpleasant sight of Zethes, Cal, and Khione standing before him, Cal holding a large bucket and grinning widely. 

“Oh great,” Leo mumbled to himself. “The ice queen herself.” He moved his hands to his waist to retrieve his hammer from his toolbelt, but was greeted with two inconveniences: his toolbelt wasn’t around his waist, and his hands were shackled to bolts impaled in the icy ground beneath him. 

“Looking for this?” Khione batted her eyes innocently, pulling his toolbelt from behind her back. Leo glared at her. 

“Not that I need it to incinerate you,” he said, willing his body to heat up. Just as he could feel the fire begin to curl in his hair, Cal sloshed another wave of ice cold water over Leo, extinguishing any flame there. “Oh, come on!” Leo yelled, pulling against the chains. Cal sloshed another wave of water over Leo, seemingly just for fun.

“Fire bad,” Cal giggled, still holding the bucket ready. Leo spit and ice cube out of his mouth. 

“How does that thing still have water in it?” Leo demanded, a smirk building on his face. “Is that all of your ice I melted fighting you way back when?” Khione rolled her eyes. 

“You only wish you did that much damage,” she flipped the tool belt over her shoulder, squatting down so she was eye level with Leo’s sitting form. “That bucket, however, can do a lot of damage. I enchanted it just for this purpose.”

“Aw, you went through all that trouble for me? I knew my good looks had a lasting impression,” Leo winked at her. Khione’s glare deepened.

“I forgot just how  _ obnoxious _ you are,” she muttered, maintaining eye contact with Leo. Her glare slowly turned into a smirk. “We’ll see how long you can keep that up. I have quite the… itinerary… planned for you. Me and my brothers are excited to carry it out.”

“Seems like quite the party. There’s just one little kink you might want to consider working out,” Leo said, bringing his face closer to Khione’s. “See, I’ve got this dinner date planned with my girlfriend, and I  _ really _ should tell my friends that I’m not dead, so I can’t stick around for too long. Any chance for a rain check? I’ll come back later, I swear.” At that, Khione harshly backhanded Leo, whipping his head to the side. When he turned back to face her, there was a satisfying red mark where she had struck him. 

“You’ll soon learn where that smart mouth will get you here, Leo Valdez.” Khione stood up, nodding to her brother, Zethes. The Boread marched towards Leo, grabbing his feet. Leo grew agitated, and he could feel small flames flickering about in his hair. 

“Now hold on a second, those are new-” Leo was cut off by another dousing of ice cold water. Before he could finish sputtering, Leo’s shoes were thrown across the room, leaving nothing between his bare feet and the icy ground. Between his now cold feet and the constant ice bath, Leo was beginning to grow cold, something that wasn’t a common occurrence. A small shiver worked its way up Leo’s back. At this, Zethes grinned. 

“You see, we figured if we could keep you cold, you might not be able to produce fire,” Zethes said, standing up. 

“Yes. Fire bad,” Cal laughed, sloshing the bucket menacingly. 

“No need for that, big guy,” Leo said, putting his shackled hands up. “No fire right now.” The cold was seeping through his clothes now, creating an unpleasant cold feeling Leo wasn’t used to. He tried to keep his teeth from chattering. 

“So we put you in a room, made by ice, full of ice, with no winter clothes!” Zethes exclaimed. “Besides, those shoes were hideous anyways.” Cal grunted beside his brother. 

“Oh yes! And Cal has been instructed to throw this never ending bucket of ice water on you every time he sees even a spark!” Zethes grinned at him, rocking back and forth on his feet. “Isn’t it brilliant?”

“Wow, you really planned this out, didn’t you?” Leo said, a hesitant laugh escaping his lips. “But how-”

“Did we know that you were alive?” Khione interrupted. “Leo, why do you think it took you so long to leave Ogygia?”

“What do you mean, we left the island pretty much right after I got there,” Leo said. Khione faked a frown. 

“Aw, sounds like we lost some time there unknowingly. I may have used some of my wind spirits to, delay your trip I suppose.” Leo’s face fell. 

“Wait, how long…” he trailed off, looking up to meet Khione’s eyes defiantly. “How long has it been since… since the battle?” Khione just smiled, picking up Leo’s shoes. She tossed the shoes at Zethes, and the tool belt at Cal. 

“Gifts for you brothers, he won’t be needing them anytime soon.” Zethes grumbled, mumbling something about ugly shoes, while Cal gleefully pulled the belt around his waist. Leo glared at them. “I’m going to gather a few things, I’ll be back in a few. Cal, you stay here and smother any flames you may see, Leo, you sit there and get all nice and cold for me, will you?” Khione grinned, as she and Zethes walked out a door directly in front of Leo. As soon as the door shut, Cal giggled, throwing another bucket full of water over Leo. 

“Hey, that’s enough!” Leo yelled, standing and trying to advance towards Cal, but the shackles around his wrists stopped him midstep and pulled him back toward the ground violently, only making Cal’s grin grow. Leo glared daggers at him. 

* * *

Leo sat for what felt like hours on the ice cold ground, the cold creeping into his bones before Khione slammed the door open. Behind her, Zethes came in, dragging a metal chair with a towel on it. 

“Finally, my butt was getting a little cold just sitting on the ground here!” Leo shifting his attention towards Khione. “You know, ever heard of floor heaters? I could hook you up with a guy-” Leo was cut off by Khione grabbing the front of Leo’s shirt and pulling him to his feet harshly. Zethes slid the chair underneath him, and Khione shoved Leo into it. Khione grabbed the towel. 

“You know, something I quite like about western culture is their constant innovation in the field of interrogation. Inflicting pain to get answers….” Khione trailed off, a sick smile on her face. “It’s not very effective, but it certainly is fun.” She put her hands on Leo’s shoulders. “Ever heard of waterboarding?” Leo face went a little pale as Khione draped the towel over his chest. Nevertheless, Leo let out a laugh. 

“Please, what could you possibly have to learn from me? I’m all looks, not a lot going on upstairs, you know?” Khione grabbed his face harshly, nails slightly digging into his skin. 

“There certainly isn’t a lot going on in that small head of yours, because there is absolutely  _ nothing _ I could learn from you.” Every word from Khione’s mouth dripped with venom. “I’m not here for information. I couldn’t care less about anything in this world right now than the sweet pain I’m about to inflict on you. And I’m going to enjoy every. single. second.” With that, Khione pulled the towel over Leo’s head, cutting off his vision and yanking his head backwards. Then the water began crashing down. The first wave seemed to last a lifetime, and Leo was gasping for air when it was over. Before he could catch his breath, more water came gushing down, filling Leo’s lungs.He was gasping and sputtering for air, but couldn’t seem to ever find enough to fill his lungs. Leo struggled against his restraints, trying to grab anything he could with his hands, and pushing off the ground with his feet, but his head was always yanked back into another onslaught of icy cold water. He tried holding his breath, he tried coughing, he even tried yelling, but nothing could help him escape. Every time he thought he might pass out, get some relief from the unconsciousness, the water ceased just long enough for Leo to get the smallest of breaths before the waterfall returned. 

After Khione finally grew board with this, she let go of the towel, allowing Leo’s head to shoot forward. Leo hunched over, coughing violently as his lungs desperately tried to expel the water that had accumulated in them. Zethes ripped the chair away, making Leo fall back to the icy floor with a harsh thud. The three Boreads dropped the towel, the bucket, and the chair at the door. 

“We’ll see you in the morning,” Khione called, slamming the door shut behind her. Leo rolled to his side, still coughing up water from his lungs. He couldn’t tell in the water continuing to run down his cheek was from his soaked hair or pained tears. When he finally felt he was done expelling the water from his lungs, Leo rolled onto his back, his lungs taking in every bit of precious oxygen they could. 

“Like hell I’m gonna still be here tomorrow morning,” he muttered to himself quietly, throat raw from the ordeal. He began looking around him, eyes falling on the spikes embedded in the icy ground that held his shackles in place. His eyes lit up, seeing an opportunity. “Bingo.”


	4. Broken Spirits

Leo crawled over to one of the spikes holding him in place. He wiped his clammy hair out of his eyes, trying to repress a shiver that worked its way up his spine.

“Gods, it’s so cold in here,” he grumbled to himself. He willed his hands to light on fire, putting his hands on the ice surrounding the spike. However, he was only able to produce a small licking flame that barely covered his palms. He groaned, frustrated. His fire powers were usually difficult to control, but he had never struggled to start a flame before. “It’ll have to do,” he mumbled. He got to work melting the ice around the spikes. In spite of the fire covering his palms, it was bringing no heat to the rest of his body, as he was still battling shivers. It took about fifteen minutes for Leo to free each spike, but, as soon as he could pull them free, he gathered the chains and stumbled to the only door in the room. He grinned to himself. 

“Should’ve buried these suckers a little deeper.” He opened it as quietly as he could, stepping around and shutting it behind him. He listened for movement or voices, but all he could hear was the light whistling of wind through the hallway. He crept down the hall to his left, trying to keep the chains from clinking together. He continued down hallways that seemed to stretch endlessly until he stumbled to a quick stop a ledge. Beneath him was a beautiful cityscape, which lit up the night sky. Leo guessed he must’ve been at least 30 stories above ground, gazing down as the chilly wind whipped through his damp hair. He shivered again. 

“How the Hades am I going to get down that?” Exasperated, Leo threw his hands in the air. “No stairs, no ladder…” He looked down at the spikes he still carried in his hands. Experimentally, he moved towards the ledge, peeking out over it and attempted to slam the metal spike into the side of the building. He gave it a small tug, and it seemed to stay well enough. He swung his legs over the side, when he was interrupted by two ice-cold hands gripping his shoulders and pulling him back from the ledge. The spike popped loose, and his chains clinked together as Leo slid across the ground, his back hitting the wall. 

“How did you free yourself?” Zethes demanded, gazing at the spikes in Leo’s hands. “I hammered those in the ground myself.”

“Well that would explain why they were so easy to dislodge,” Leo grinned, standing up. He gripped the spikes in his hands, wielding them as weapons. Zethes drew an icy sword from its sheath, pointing it at Leo’s face. 

“I suggest you wander back to that room. We specially designed it for you!”

“How thoughtful!” Leo charged at Zethes, dodging his swing and swiping a spike at his back. Zethes let out a cry as Leo’s makeshift weapon made contact with his skin, drawing blood. 

“How dare you!” Zethes cried, swinging his sword again. I clanged against the chain surrounding Leo’s wrist, deflecting off it harmlessly. “This was a brand new shirt!”

“Trust me dude, I just did you a favor,” Leo teased, eyeing the horribly out-of-date silk shirt Zethes sported. “That’s so last century.” Zethes unleashed another attack, this time slightly grazing Leo’s arm. Leo grimaced, but lunged again. He pushed Zethes into the wall, knocking his sword out of his hand. Leo kicked it over the ledge, and it disappear into the night sky below. Zethes now pushed Leo back, and Leo swung the chain attached to his right arm, decking Zethes in the head. He fell back, dazed, and Leo knocked him out, hitting his temple with the blunt end of a spike. 

Having defeated Zethes, Leo started to make his way back to the ledge, before Cal turned the corner. He looked at Leo, and looked at his brother lying on the ground. 

“Brother?” he called, looking for a response. He then turned to Leo, his eyes settling into a glare. “Destroy!” He yelled, charging at Leo. Leo tried to dodge him, but Cal managed to grab him by the neck, slamming him against the wall. Stars spun behind Leo’s eyes as he clawed at Cal’s beefy hands. He managed to bring his legs up to Cal’s chest, pushing him off. Cal stumbled backwards, and Leo landed on his hands and knees, still dazed. Before Leo could scramble away to stand up, Cal let out a cry of rage, wildly stamping his foot on the ground. Cal’s foot met with Leo’s right leg just above his ankle and a snap resounded in the small room. White hot pain shot through Leo’s veins, ripping a scream from his throat. Leo curled in on himself. He managed to bring his hands up, blocking Cal’s incoming kick to his head. He scrambled away, pushing his back against the wall and breathing heavily. Cal advanced on him again, but was stopped in his tracks upon hearing his sister’s voice. 

“What on _Earth_ -” Khione materialized through the opening in the building, but froze when she saw the situation in front of her. She looked at Zethes, lying unconscious on the ground, Cal, standing menacingly over Leo, and Leo, who huddled against the wall breathing heavily. Leo stared up at her defiantly. 

“You could use to-” he hesitated as he shifted, slightly jarring his ankle- “up your security. I practically got away.” He mustered a pained grin. Khione just smiled coldly back. 

“I didn’t expect you to get this far, no, but it seems my brothers are more incompetent than I thought.” She cast a glare down at Zethes’ form. “Yet, you’re still here.” She followed Leo’s hand, which were hovering tentatively over his ankle. “And you seem a little worse for wear.” She moved towards him, pushing Cal out of the way. “Ouch, that looks pretty bad… Does it hurt if I poke it?” Khione prodded at Leo’s ankle. He grimaced, holding back the yell that tried to escape from his lungs. 

“Not at all, ice queen,” Leo declared, using the wall to stand. He kept his weight on his left foot, but every movement sent another shot of pain through his nerves. 

“Oh? So you should have no trouble walking back to your cell.”

“And why would I do that?” Leo cocked his head sideways, holding his ground. “It’s pretty chilly in there, there’s terrible room service, and don’t even get me started on the hospitality-” Khione whipped out a knife, pushing it into Leo’s side. 

“Start walking.” Leo put his hands up, slightly hopping away from the knife on his good leg. 

“Not even a please?” Frustrated, Khione gave Leo a push. The momentum forced Leo to put weight on his broken leg, and he fell to the ground, and cry of pain escaping his lips. 

“That’s what I thought. Cal, would you mind lugging him back to his room?” She bent down, handing her brother the chains. Cal looked over her shoulder at Zethes. “Oh, don’t worry about him, he’ll wake up in a bit. I’ll have a few things to say to him, however…” Cal just shrugged, taking the chains from his sister, and started dragging Leo back down the maze of hallways, Khione following close behind. The dragging did Leo’s leg no favors, but it was certainly preferred to walking. As Leo was dragged further and further from his only way out, he began to realize that he wasn’t going to be able to get out of this one on his own. He could only hope that Calypso could find camp. Festus should’ve woken up soon after their encounter with the wind spirits, and Leo had assumed they’d left Calypso with Festus. After all, it would’ve taken both brothers, as light as Leo was, to carry him to wherever they were. Maybe if he wasn’t stupid enough to get his leg broken on his first escape attempt, he could’ve stood a chance to get out of here. However, as every icy bump jarred his ankle, and he couldn’t seem to shake the cold feeling that seemed to be seeping in his bones, he could only hope for someone to come rescue him.


	5. Nightmares

Piper was ripped out of a rather peaceful dream of her family being all together in her small family cabin, just enjoying themselves. Suddenly finding herself in an icy corridor, which had an opening that overlooked a beautiful cityscape. 

“Where-” Piper was cut off by a loud cry of pain followed by a gruff laugh that sounded all too familiar. She whipped around at the sound, and started down the corridor to investigate. She heard another familiar voice that grew clearer as she walked down the corridor. 

“You know, when I first heard you were dead, I was almost happy. Thought about throwing a party. Zethes and Cal even wanted a piñata, which was pretty southern of them, but I figured, why not? When I got word that you were, in fact, _alive_ , I knew exactly what to do! I could throw that party, and I knew exactly where to get the piñata.” Piper’s breath caught in her throat when she recognized the all-too familiar voice.

“Khione,” she whispered to herself, approaching the doorway. “But who is she talking to?”

“You mean me?” Piper stopped dead in her tracks. There was pain laced in his voice, but she would recognize that voice anywhere. He continued. There was a shuffle of chains, and a pained grunt. “That feels like cultural appropriation.” Piper finally rounded the corner to have her suspicions confirmed. In the room stood Khione and Zethes, grinning menacingly. At the center of the room, Cal was hoisting none other than a living, breathing Leo Valdez by the chains attached to his wrists. Piper stood in shock at the door, and, if it had not been a dream, she would’ve had tears streaming down her face. Leo was alive? She was vaguely aware of the group of siblings talking, but she was unable to tear her eyes away from Leo, observing everything. Not only was he alive, but he was stuck in this freezing cold room with three immortals who hated his guts. She could see the icy dampness that plastered his curls to his face, the opening cuts around his wrists from the shackles, the blood on the side of his head, and, most worrying, his right ankle twisted unnaturally. She was torn from her thoughts when Leo spoke. 

“C’mon, is that really necessary?” Leo’s voice held a joking tone, but Piper could see the fear in his eyes. She shifted her gaze to the set of siblings, finally seeing what they were holding. Zethes held a blunt icicle shaped like a baseball bat, and Cal held a strange bucket that seemed to be full of water. Khione held the most disturbing weapon of all: a flogger. Leo’s eyes must’ve fixed on the whip as well. “Something tells me that’s not the fun kind of whip.” Without any response from any of them, Cal sloshed the bucket on Leo, absolutely drenching every inch of him. A few ice cubes crashed to the ground, and Leo visibly shivered. Only now did Piper notice that Leo’s lips were tinted blue, a color she would never associate with Leo, who she always knew to be warm, if not hot, to the touch. 

“Just in case you get any ideas again,” Zethes said, glaring at Leo. There was significant anger in his voice as he spoke. He pointed to the side of his head, where some of his blood was still leaking down his temple. He then swung the bat, as hard as he could at Leo, smashing it again and again, each eliciting a pained grunt from Leo. Piper’s hands moved to cover her mouth, and she tried to back away only to find herself frozen in place in her dream. She didn’t want to watch the terrible scene unfold in front of her, she didn’t want to watch her friend, who she thought was dead, suffer for someone else’s pleasure. 

Zethes finally grew tired of bashing Leo’s ribs into fragments, and he dropped the bat on the ground, breathing heavily. He then turned and grinned at Khione. 

“You were right, that did feel good!” he exclaimed, almost jumping. 

“I know,” Khione said. “Just maybe don’t let him knock you out next time.” She moved towards Leo, who’s labored breathing resonated throughout the room. Leo lifted his head weakly, giving Khione an unsettling grin. When he smiled, some blood trickled out of his mouth.

“Best piñata you’ve ever had?” he wheezed. Khione glared at him, brandishing her whip. 

“Stop!” Piper tried to yell, struggling against her frozen dream state. She couldn’t move, and doubted anyone could hear her, but Khione hesitated, glancing in her direction. She made eye contact with Piper, and grinned menacingly. 

“Not yet.” Leo glanced down at Khione’s hands.

“You know, it’s typical to use a plastic bat on a piñata, so it’s harder to break, you know? The speed of harder object can just… suck the fun out of it,” Leo quipped. Khione walked behind Leo’s dangling form before lashing out with her whip. Leo yelped as the material made contact with his back, slicing through his shirt and breaking skin. The impact made hi swing back and forth, and his unbroken dangling foot reached for the ground in a desperate attempt to still himself. 

“I don’t know, I’m having quite a bit of fun, aren’t you?” Khione asked, lashing out with the whip again.

“Not quite the word I would use,” Leo huffed, face contorted in pain. 

“Well, did you expect us to go easy on you after that little escape attempt?” Khione taunted, whipping Leo again. “It was cute, you know that you thought you could get away. Here we are, on top of the highest building in Quebec-” Leo cried out as she whipped him again- “only accessible by flying, and you thought you could just climb down!” Piper could only watch in horror as Khione slammed the whip down again and again on Leo’s back. When she finally relaxed, blood was trickling down Leo’s back onto the icy floor, and Piper could see the tears running down his face. Khione marched in front of Leo, getting very close to his face. 

“Are you breaking on me already, fire boy?” Leo lifted his head, glaring at her, and let out a scream as he lit himself on fire, pushing the flames towards Khione’s face. She stumbled back, holding her face. Cal stepped forward with the bucket dousing Leo entirely in the cold water. Leo’s head fell limp against his chest as Khione stood up. She marched forward and grabbed his chin. “You’re not getting out of here, and _no one_ will be able to save you.” She pushed his chin the side before whipping around, grinning in Piper’s direction. “I hope you enjoyed the show.” The last thing Piper saw was a hostile shower of ice shards headed directly at her face. 

* * *

Piper sat up in bed, breathing heavily. She felt a lurch in her stomach, and practically fell out of her bed in a rush to get to the bathroom before emptying the contents of her stomach into a toilet. She couldn’t get the image of Leo’s bloodied back out of her head, or how his ankle was twisted, or just the absolute malice she saw in Zethes and Khione. She heaved into the toilet again before flushing it, and sat with her back against the wall, trying to rub the tears from her eyes. What they were doing to Leo was abhorrent. She brought her knees to her chest, a few sobs racking her body. 

“Oh my gods, Piper, are you okay?” The voice came from the doorway, and Piper raised her head to see Mitchell, her brother, standing in the doorway. He came in, kneeling next to Piper and rubbing her arm for comfort. Piper took several deep breaths, attempting to steel her nerves and her stomach. 

“I need to talk to Chiron,” she looked Mitchel in the eyes. Mitchell’s eyes widened as Piper stood up and wiped the last few tears from her eyes. 

“Look, Piper, it’s like three in the morning-” Piper looked Mitchell in the eyes. 

“It’s really important. I’ll be back.” She pushed her way past Mitchell, but hesitated at the door. She turned back, giving Mitchell a hug. “Thanks for checking up on me.” She then ran out the door, practically sprinting to the big house. When she got there, she was surprised to see the lights already on inside. She knocked on the door. 

“Come in,” Chiron’s voice came from outside. Piper slung the door open. 

“Chiron, I just had this _horrible_ dream-”

“You too?” Jason’s voice came from the couch as he turned to face her. Piper was shocked to see his tear-stained face behind his glasses. Despite the sadness and worry evident on his face, however, Piper could sense the anger radiating off of him. “About Leo?” Piper nodded, looking to Chiron. He motioned for her to sit on the couch next to Jason. 

“Jason was just telling me about what he saw,” Chiron’s eyes were full of concern, not just for Leo, but for the two demigods sitting in front of him. 

“It’s just- completely wrong!” Jason exclaimed, putting his hands on his head. “S-she, she was…” Jason trailed off, hiding his face in his hands. 

“Whipping him?” Piper said. She could feel tears welling in her eyes, but she fought them back as the same anger Jason felt was building in her. “Her brother was beating him? He’s stuck in the room, cold and alone, with a broken ankle, and-” Piper stopped, her voice catching in her throat. 

“We need to go get him,” Jason said, looking up at Chiron. Piper nodded.

“As soon as possible. We can’t let him be there any second longer,” Piper said. Both demigods were staring at Chiron with a fury in their eyes. 

“I understand your rage, it is earned. But how can we know that these dreams were not fabricated maliciously? Someone could be trying to lead you into a trap. After all, up until a few minutes ago, I was under the impression that Leo Valdez was dead,” Chiron reasoned. “We can consult Rachel when she returns-”

“Rachel won’t be back for a few days!” Jason exclaimed. “If this is real, we’ll be leaving Leo to suffer unnecessarily, and I won’t do that.” Before Piper could chime in with her approval, there was another knock at the door. 

“Chiron, there’s a metal dragon in the sky!” the voice exclaimed. “Come quick!” Jason and Piper shared a look before jumping to their feet and rushing out the door, Chiron close behind them. Chiron nodded at the camper before turning his eyes to the sky. Sure enough, a bronze dragon was descending on camp, where a group of campers stood ready with their swords and shields brandished. Jason and Piper saw Percy rushing up beside them, closely followed by Annabeth. The four demigods stared at the bronze dragon as it descended, and rushed over to it when it touched down. There was a girl Piper didn’t recognize on the back, but she looked worse for wear. When the dragon landed, she slid off the side, landed clumsily on her feet. Percy looked taken aback.

“Calypso?” he asked, stepping towards her. The girl looked over to him, a frown on her face.

“Calypso?” Annabeth asked, turning her gaze to Percy. 

“Percy Jackson,” she said coolly, almost glaring at him. She stumbled forward, and Jason caught her before she fell. “I need help. She looked back at Percy, the only one she recognized. “Leo’s in trouble.”


	6. Leo's in Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: It's been a while! My bad. Motivation's been a little difficult, but I'm sure you guys can get that. Anyways, here's a two chapter update for you guys! Hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently (if Zoom University can chill out a bit). Thanks for reading!

“Leo’s in trouble,” Calypso said. Jason and Piper looked at each other before turning back to Calypso.   
“We know,” Piper said to her. “We were just about to go get him.” At this, the weariness returned to Calypso’s body and she slumped forward. Before she could stumble any further, Percy reached out, catching her. She pushed him off, standing shakily.   
“Then let’s go get him,” she said. “I flew all around Quebec, but I couldn’t find him. It’s my only clue though, so we should probably head back there.” She moved to climb back on the dragon, but Jasson stopped her.   
“I’m not sure that we’re quite ready for that yet. Why don’t we-” Jason trailed off, looking to Piper for help. Chiron took the opportunity to jump in.   
“Let’s go to the big house and discuss our plan,” Chiron said. He began ushering Calypso, Jason, and Piper to the big house. He hesitated. “Will, come with us please.” Will followed the four of them. Percy and Annabeth followed as well, hoping to be kept in the loop. “Everyone else, please go back to bed. I’ll update you in the morning at breakfast.” The other campers, dressed in a strange variety of pajamas and armor, looked at Chiron warily before turning back to their cabins. The group made their way to the big house, where they all sat down around the table. Will began inspecting Calypso’s cuts, offering her some ambrosia.   
“I don’t know if I can eat that,” Calypso said solemnly, “I’ve felt rather mortal since leaving Ogygia.” Will rubbed the back of his head, frowning.   
“Well, there’s nothing you can’t heal from in a few days, so I’m not worried. Maybe some ibuprofen?” Calypso shook her head.   
“I can wait. We need to be concerned about Leo,” she declared, looking around at the demigods. Piper nodded.  
“We know. Me and Jason had this….” Piper thought twice about elaborating on how horrific the dream was, seeing the look in Calypso’s eyes, “dream about Leo earlier tonight.”  
“Did you see Leo? Is he okay?” Calypso asked. Piper’s mouth opened to respond, but no words came out. Chiron filled in for her.   
“All we know now is that he needs to be rescued,” Chiron said, putting a comforting hand on Calypso’s shoulder.   
“Then let’s go!” Calypso exclaimed, standing abruptly. She staggered a little as she stood, and Will guided her back down to the couch.   
“I should have been more clear earlier, Calypso. You need to rest for your body to heal.” Will looked around the room. “There are plenty of other people here who are more than willing to go get him.” Annabeth stepped forward, looking at Calypso.   
“I know how you must feel right now. You feel like it’s your fault he’s missing and it’s your responsibility to save him, and I understand that. But you need to stay here and get some rest, and we will bring him back to you.” Calypso opened her mouth as if to say something defiant, but she deflated before she could.   
“I know you’re right,” Calypso said, putting her head in her hands. “But I don’t want you to be.” Annabeth nodded.   
“Percy, could you walk Calypso to the healer’s cabin for some rest? I’ll send one of Will’s siblings after you in a bit,” Chiron asked. Percy nodded, awkwardly looking at Calypso. She stood hesitantly and walked out the door.  
“No need, I’ll go with them,” Annabeth said, standing and following her boyfriend out the door. Will looked around incredulously.   
“I could’ve gone!” He yelled out the window hopelessly.   
“Will, I have a feeling we are going to need you to fly with Jason and Piper to Quebec,” Chiron said. “If I remember properly from what Jason told me, Leo will need significant medical attention when you find him.” Piper nodded, and Will turned to her.   
“What did you guys see?” Will seemed to grow antsy. “What do I need to pack?”  
“Well….” Piper took a shaky breath, allowing the images to play through her mind again. “He has a broken ankle, and um…. He got hit a lot on his chest and stomach, so maybe broken ribs?” Piper closed her eyes, grimacing. “There was blood on his head, so maybe a concussion? And his lips were blue, like he was really cold.” She hesitated again, tears filling her eyes as she pictured Leo’s broken form. She opened her eyes when Jason grabbed her hands, squeezing it gently. “And she… she whipped him, so lash marks?” When she opened her eyes, she saw Will staring at her intently, almost whispering to himself what he was going to need. “That’s all I can remember.” Will nodded.  
“I will pack accordingly.” Something was different about Will’s voice. Piper thought she heard hints of fear and anger? Will stood, and took off at a jog out the door to collect supplies. Chiron turned to Piper and Jason.   
“We need to talk about how you’re going to find Leo,” Chiron said. “We can’t consult the Oracle, and you didn’t receive any prophecies in your dreams, did you?” Jason and Piper shook their heads.   
“Well, we know he’s in Quebec,” Jason said. Piper sat up, remembering what Khione said.  
“The tallest building in Quebec,” she mumbled to herself.  
“What was that, dear?” Chiron asked.   
“She said that he was dumb for trying to escape from the tallest building in Quebec. What’s the tallest building in Quebec?” Piper asked.   
“I believe that would be the Edifice Marie-Guyart,” Chiron said. “How would Calypso not have found him then? The tallest building in the city isn’t very inconspicuous.”   
“She did say that she was feeling mortal, so maybe the mist is affecting her more than usual,” Jason offered. “Either way, it’s the only lead we’ve got, so we’ll just have to start there.” Chiron nodded.  
“Perhaps Festus can provide some guidance as well,” Chiron offered. “You should leave as soon as possible.” Piper and Jason nodded, standing quickly made their way out the door. “And Jason,” Chiron said, stopping Jason at the door. “Bring Leo home.” Jason could see the pain in Chiron’s eyes. “Please.” Determination set in Jason’s eyes.  
“He’s coming home.”


	7. Arrival

When Will, Jason, and Piper arrived in Quebec, the mist hanging in the air was nearly stifling. The group could barely see a few feet in front of them. Jason was getting frustrated.   
“How’re we supposed to find the tallest building in Quebec when we can’t even tell how close we are to the ground!” He raked his hands through his hair, gripping it uncomfortably.   
“Jason, we just need to be patient-”  
“How can I be patient while I know that Leo- he’s alive, and he’s suffering, and… and…” Jason trailed off, putting his head in his hands. Piper put her hands on his shoulder.   
“Believe me, we know,” Piper said. “We’ll find him.” Festus creaked loudly.  
“Um, is this thing broken?” Will asked, gripping Piper’s waist a little tighter.   
“No, I think he’s trying to tell us something,” Piper mumbled, leaning forward to rub the metal dragon’s side. The dragon seemed to whir in agreement.   
“Take us to him, Festus,” Jason said. Festus broke through the clouds, where the trio could vaguely see a tall shape in the distance. Festus glided up to it, hovering at a gap in the side of the tall building. The opening wasn’t large enough for Festus to land in, but they could see that the walls were covered with ice, and they all knew that they had found their destination. Jason grabbed Piper and flew them into the ice room, and came back for Will. When Jason landed, he turned back to Festus. “Stay nearby, we’ll be back in a bit with Leo, okay?” Festus clicked and whirred before flying off into the distance.   
“Are we sure we’re in the right place?” Will asked, surveying the empty room around them. Their question was answered when a blood-curdling scream resonated from a nearby hallway, filling the room. Jason took off at a sprint down the hallway, Piper and Will close behind.   
\--a little bit earlier--  
Leo woke up to someone tapping on his forehead, and opened his eyes to Khione standing uncomfortably close to him.  
“Good morning,” Leo said, attempting to ignore the pounding in his head. He shivered. “How are you on this frosty day?” Khione just grinned, staying quiet. “That’s a little creepy,” Leo mumbled to himself. She turned and walked to the corner of the room where the levers that controlled the chains holding Leo up were. Khione flicked her wrist, and Leo came crashing to the ground. He groaned and rolled over, cherishing the relief that rushed to his wrists. Khione then grabbed Leo by his ankles, dragging him toward her in the corner and pulling the chains taught. Hot white pain flashed in front of Leo’s eyes. His vision was fuzzy when he came to again where he found Khione sitting on his legs, restraining his movement. She brandished a small knife, running it lightly down Leo’s tattered shirt. Leo twitched at the cold sensation on his chest.   
“Well, this is new,” he remarked, a scared laugh escaping his lips. Khione made a sharp movement with the knife, cutting Leo’s shirt down the middle. “Wow, we’re moving a little fast here, don’t you think? You should at least take me out to dinner first-” He was cut off by Khione pushing the knife in his chest, eliciting a yell.   
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, it’s only a little cut,” Khione said, cutting a little farther. Leo was breathing heavily, trying to hold back tears as he stared Khione in the eyes.   
“You mean that?” Leo looked down at the large cut on his chest. “I’ve had worse.” Khione smirked, bringing the knife up to his cheek, pushing the blade in. Leo flinched away, but Khione only followed his face with the knife. The places where Khione had cut him with the knife seemed to burn with cold, and every heave of his chest accentuated the pain. Khione leaned in close, whispering in his ear.   
“I will break you again and again,” she said, lightly trailing the knife up his arm. Leo strained against the chains, and tried to push Khione off of him. Khione was unshaken, and only grinned as she dug the knife in and dragged it back down his arm slowly. Leo could only hear the sound of his own scream in his ears. When she finally stopped, Leo saw Zethes standing behind her.   
“Sister?” Khione whipped around. “They’re here.”   
“Finally! I was wondering what was taking them so long,” Khione exclaimed, turning back to Leo. Leo felt woozy, but he managed to utter a few words.   
“Who’s here?” Leo slurred, lifting his head. Khione just shrugged, turning back to face Leo.  
“You’ll see soon enough,” she said. “But until then, I want them to hear you.” She went to touch Leo’s face, but he flinched away. Khione sighed. “Mortals are just so…. fragile,” she said. She raked her fingernails down Leo’s chest, leaving marks. This earned a whimper from Leo’s mouth. “That’s not loud enough,” Khione said. She pushed the knife into the right side of Leo’s hip. Another scream was ripped from Leo’s throat as he tried to squirm away from Khione.   
“O-okay, c’mon now,” Leo panted. His face was contorted in pain, tears dripping down. The knife was still embedded in his hip. Khione leaned on the knife pushing it a little deeper. Leo’s breathing picked up as a smaller yell escaped his mouth. Khione stared dead into Leo’s eyes, which were glazed over with pain.   
“You want me to stop?” she said, a wicked grin gracing her face. “You’ll have to beg me to stop.” She put a little more pressure on the knife. Leo was running out of energy, and Khione could hear it in his next cry. Leo opened his mouth to say something again, but, in that short period of silence, Khione’s attention was drawn to the doorway. Several crashes could be heard, followed by a yell of rage by a voice Leo thought he recognized. Khione seemed to understand what was happening, because in an instant Khione had whipped the knife out of Leo’s hip and pulled him to his feet. When Leo’s vision finally cleared, he saw his two best friends standing in the doorway accompanied by one of the kids from Apollo’s cabin. Leo was slightly delirious, and his thoughts trailed off as he tried to remember the blonde kid’s name. His attention was brought back to his friends when Jason spoke.  
“You let him go right now.” Jason was shaking with anger. Khione pushed the knife up to Leo’s throat, glaring at the trio in the doorway.  
“Or what?”


	8. Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: motivation is currently foreign to me, so apologies.... but time's not real anyways, right?

Jason glared at Khione from across the room, hyper focused on every movement of her arm. Every twitch, every breath- nothing went unnoticed by Jason’s eyes. Neither did Leo’s soaked hair, his twisted ankle, the many cuts across his chest, the blood dripping down his right leg, his pale face, and his blue lips. He took a step forward, but he was halted by Khione pushing the knife a little harder against Leo’s throat, drawing a little blood. 

“Another step and he will lose what little blood he has left,” Khione threatened. Will glanced at the floor, which was already spotted with blood, and surveyed Leo. His eyes didn’t miss the fact that blood was dripping down Leo’s right leg, but he couldn’t exactly place the source of the bleeding…. Will steeled his nerves, leveling his bow at Khione’s face. 

“I’m glad to know he still has some,” he said. Khione smirked, glancing at the floor around her and Leo. 

“For now,” Khione said. “He won’t for much longer if you don’t drop your weapons.” Jason, Piper, and Will froze, unsure of what to do. Reluctantly, Will lowered his bow and Jason and Piper followed suit. “Where are my brothers?” Khione asked. 

“Tartarus, I assume,” Jason quipped, shrugging. “Weren’t any better than the last time we fought them.” Hearing that, Leo mustered a small laugh. Khione growled, and the temperature in the room dropped even further. 

“Useless!” she yelled. She pushed the point of the knife into Leo’s neck a little further, stifling his laugh. 

“Hey!” Piper yelled, taking a step forward and drawing Khione’s attention to her. “What’s your end goal here, huh?” Piper tried to lace her voice with power. “If you could just let Leo walk over to us-” Piper was cut off by a vicious laugh from Khione.

“You think he can walk?” she laughed. “After all this time with me, you think he’d be able to walk?” Piper’s eyes flicked down to Leo’s ankle before coming back up to meet Khione’s. “I know you saw what I did, I felt your presence that night,” Khione ranted. “And you too, Jason.” Malice and anger dripped from every word that fell from Khione’s mouth. “You were there because I wanted you to be. I needed you to suffer for the humiliation that you made me suffer. And if you think for a second that I’m just going to let him go…” She paused, gripping Leo’s hair roughly. Leo let out a small whimper as she did it, one hand flashing up to his head. “You’re dumber than I thought. And when I’m done with him, I’m going to rip each of you apart, piece by piece. Even you, sunshine.” Khione grinned when she looked at Will. “Your healing skills can only do so much.” 

“You won’t-” Leo sputtered. “Get the chance,” he finished quietly. 

“What?” Khione lashed out with her knife as Leo yelled, engulfing both of them in flames. Khione screamed, holding her face as the flames licked across her skin as she fell backwards. Leo’s eyes rolled back in his head as he collapsed, falling opposite of Khione. Khione sprung back to her feet quickly, scooping her knife off the ground and lunging at Leo. Jason acted faster, grabbing his imperial gold sword off of the ground and tackling Khione. Piper and Will took off at a sprint towards Leo, Piper knelt to cut the chains that bound Leo to the ceiling before taking a more defensive stance as Will knelt at his side. Jason knocked the knife out of Khione’s hand and slammed the hilt of his sword against Khione’s temple. 

“You remember this moment, every time you even  _ think _ about me, or Piper, or Leo, or any other demigod” Jason growled. “And you know that I will come for you.” Khione yelled, trying to push Jason off of her, and he buried his sword into her chest. Golden  _ ichor _ pooled underneath Khione and dripped out of the corner of her mouth. “Stay away from us,” he whispered into Khione’s ear, and she vanished, leaving a pile of snow behind. As Jason turned, he saw Piper cradling Leo’s head as Will pulled everything out of his backpack. Jason allowed himself to take a small breath of relief, but it was stifled by Leo’s head lulling in Piper’s hands. He rushed to Will’s side. 

“C’mon Leo, wake up,” Piper said, gently combing her fingers through his hair, which was damp with blood and water. Jason could tell she was trying not to cry, and he soon shared the sentiment as his eyes combed over Leo’s body. His pale face, blue lips, and so much blood. Jason didn’t realize he was frozen until Will yelled at him. 

“Jason!” Will yelled, looking him dead in the eyes. “I need you to put pressure here!” Jason’s hands moved to where Will’s hands were on Leo’s hip. He tried to ignore the blood that quickly saturated the bandages and began seeping through his fingers. “Piper, I’m going to need you to wake him up,” Will said. “But while he’s still asleep…” Will muttered, turning his attention to Leo’s ankle. He placed his hands on either side of Leo’s ankle, feeling the unnatural state of the bones underneath his skin before he pushed the ankle back into place. A snap resounded through the room, making Will grimace, and Leo’s eyelids fluttered as his face twisted in pain. Will made quick work of setting the ankle, moving his attention to the deep gashes on Leo’s chest. 

“C’mon Leo, wake up!” Piper said, a little more urgently. She was gently tapping his uncut cheek. “Don’t make me charmspeak you!” Leo’s eyelids continued to flutter but he showed no signs of coming to. 

“Piper-” Will started, but she cut him off.

“I know!” She fought back the tears in her eyes as she filled her words with power. “Leo, wake. Up!” Leo’s eyes flicked open as he sat up abruptly, throwing Will and Jason off of their tasks. His arms flailed wildly. Piper grabbed his shoulders, trying to push his back down to the ground, and Will grabbed his wrists. Jason jumped back to his spot at Leo’s waist, pushing down harder than before. 

“Leo!” Will yelled, holding each of his wrists and looking him directly in the eyes. “Calm down! You’re going to be okay.” Leo’s eyes focused on Will, and he visibly relaxed. This allowed Piper to pull him back down gently, combing her fingers through his hair again.

“We’re right here Leo,” Piper said. Leo closed his eyes, taking a deep breath of relief. “Could you keep your eyes open for me?” Leo opened his eyes again, nodding. He opened his mouth to talk, but it felt like his throat was on fire. He started coughing violently, and Piper scrambled to grab her bag for water. As Leo settled, Piper eased her water bottle down to his mouth, and Leo drank like he had never tasted water before. When he was done, Leo’s head came back down to rest on Piper’s lap. 

“Eat this,” Will commanded, passing Leo two cubes of ambrosia. He downed them quickly, and a warm filled his body, reminding him of his mom. Leo smiled, and a few tears came to his eyes. 

“Thank you for finding me,” Leo rasped, looking up at Piper. “S-sorry for the whole dying thing.” His words slurred slightly at the end. 

“Right now, I’m just glad to see you alive,” Jason said, and Leo lifted his head to look at his friend. “And we’re trying to keep it that way, so we can yell at you later for dying.”

“Yeah,” Piper said gently hitting Leo’s shoulder. She wiped the tears off of his cheeks. “And we will always come find you.” 

“Jason, how’s his hip looking?” Will asked. He was stitching some of the deeper cuts on Leo’s chest. Jason shook his head. 

“I-I don’t think it should be bleeding this much,” Jason stuttered. Piper and Will looked at Jason’s hands which were covered in Leo’s blood. Will took a deep breath, finishing his stitches in the cut across Leo’s chest. 

“You’d be right,” Will sighed. He rummaged in his backpack again, pulling out a lighter and one of his celestial bronze arrows. He ignited the lighter, holding the arrowhead underneath. 

“Um, Will? That’s not going to work,” Jason said. Watching the healer work.

“I saw him go up in flames untouched, Jason, I’m not that dumb,” Will said, shooting Jason a small glare. “But if we don’t cauterize that, he’s going to bleed out before we even get back to camp.”

Piper’s eyes widened. “He’s going to have to let you burn him.”


	9. Burns

“I’m gonna-” Leo’s words trailed off, and he blinked, trying to focus, “-have to let him do what?”

“Leo, look at me,” Will moved so he could make eye contact with Leo, but Leo seemed to have trouble focusing on Will. Will tapped Leo’s cheeks. “Leo. I need you to listen.” Leo nodded. “You  _ have _ to let me burn you.” Leo started shaking his head.

“No, no,” he slurred, looking away from Will. Leo brought his hands to his eyes, trying to make his brain rationalize. He knew Will wasn’t here to hurt him, but all he could feel was the fear rising in his chest. 

“ _ Leo _ ,” Will emphasized, pulling his hands from his face. “If you don’t let me burn you, you’re going to die.” Leo’s chest was heaving. Will went back to heating the arrowhead.

“I-I’ve never done that before,” Leo rasped. “I d-don’t know if I can.” He could feel the tears creeping to his eyes. “I don’t think I can.”

“Piper, can you help him?” Jason said, his eyes flicking between Leo and Piper. 

“Jason, I don’t-”

“Piper, look at Jason’s hands,” Will said. Piper’s gaze shifted to Jason’s hands, which were covered in blood, and then up to Jason’s face. She saw a tear streak down his cheek as he met her eyes. She looked down at Leo, who she saw was looking back up at her. His eyes seemed strangely focused for the amount of blood loss he had suffered. Leo’s hands came up to grip Piper’s hands on either side of his head. 

“It’s okay, Beauty Queen,” Leo mumbled. He took a few deep breaths, steeling his nerves. “Let’s do this.” Will nodded.

“Jason, I’m going to need you to hold his hip in place. And Leo, this is going to take more than one pass, okay?” Will asked. Leo nodded grimly. “Alright, here we go.” Jason took his hands off of Leo’s hip, and moved to sit on Leo’s thighs and hold his waist down. Leo winced at the movement, but forced his discomfort down. “Alright Piper.”

“Leo, let Will burn you,” Piper’s voice was laced with power, and Leo latched on to the feeling of his power withdrawing into his body and allowed himself to succumb to the charmspeak. Will brought the red-hot arrowhead down on Leo’s wound, and a scream was ripped from Leo’s throat. He felt his body push up against Jason’s hands, and Leo’s grip around Piper’s wrists tightened. The white-hot pain seemed to last an eternity before he became aware of Piper combing through his hair gently and Jason speaking to him. 

“Leo, are you okay?” Jason’s voice broke through the noise of the pain. Leo took a few heaving breaths before responding.

“As good as I can be,” Leo wheezed. “My head feels… j-just a little fuzzy.” Will nodded. 

“That’s okay, but I need to do one more pass,” Will said, reheating the arrowhead. 

“Sorry about your wrists Beauty Queen,” Leo mumbled. 

“Don’t apologize for anything,” Piper said. “Squeeze as hard as you need to.” Will flicked the lighter off, satisfied with the temperature of the arrowhead. 

“Alright, last one. Are you ready?” With a nod from Leo, Jason held Leo in place, Piper spoke into Leo’s ear, and Will got back to work. The group suffered through several excruciating moments of Leo’s screams resounding in the room around them before Will finally removed the arrowhead, and began bandaging the wound. As Leo settled back down, loosening the grip of Piper’s wrists, his eyes opened only to begin fluttering closed. 

“Leo, you gotta stay awake for us, okay?” Piper asked. Jason could feel the charmspeak she layered in her words, as he suddenly felt more energized, but her words didn’t seem to have the same effect on Leo. His hands slipped off of Piper’s wrists, falling to the floor and his head started to lull. 

“Will, he’s losing consciousness,” Jason called. His hand came to rest on Leo’s chest, unsure of what to do. In an instant, Will’s fingers found their way to Leo’s neck, searching for a pulse. He also leaned over Leo’s face, listening for breath. He sighed in relief when he felt a small puff of air touch his cheek, and a small pounding reached his fingers. 

“He’s alive,” Will announced. “I just need to address a few more cuts, and we can get back to camp.” He moved to survey the rest of Leo’s body. He could see the ambrosia working in some areas, as some cuts had shrunk and some color had returned to Leo’s lips and face. He began to work quickly, doing simple stitches where they were needed and essentially emptying his bag of bandages. By the time he was done, Leo’s head was encircled with a bandage, a massive mesh bandage had been applied to his back, and his wrists had matching coverings. Piper finished it all off by gently lifting him into a sitting position and wrapping him in a massive blanket. Will sat back on his knees, chest heaving and closed his eyes for a second. 

“Will, you good?” Jason asked. When Will opened his eyes, he saw that Jason and Piper were both staring at him, concern showing in their eyes. Will nodded. 

“I’m fine, just a little spent. Let’s get him home.” Jason scooped Leo up bridal-style, being sure to keep the blanket secure around him as Leo’s head fell onto Jason’s chest. The ground began walking back down the hallways from where they had entered, the dust being all that remained of their opposition. Looking down at his best friend, in the state that he was, Jason felt another surge of anger at the Boreads that had brought him so much suffering. His mind wandered back to his dream, where he watched Leo, dangling from those chains-

He was brought back to the present by Piper’s hand on his shoulder. 

“Are you okay?” she asked gently. 

“I will be when we get Leo home and I know he’s safe,” Jason said. Almost as if he could sense their presence, Festus appeared at the opening at the end of the hallway. Piper climbed on first, followed by Will, and then Jason, who held Leo close as he positioned himself on the dragon’s back. 

“Let’s go home Festus,” Piper said to the dragon, rubbing his neck. Not long after Festus started flying south, Piper felt a pressure on the center of her back. She turned slightly, seeing Will passed out behind her. 

“I guess that healing took a lot more out of him than we thought,” Jason said, a hint of humor in his voice. 

“Yeah, well if anybody deserves a nap right now, I’d say our two boys have earned it,” Piper said. She wiped the tears she could feel running down her face. 

“They certainly did,” Jason agreed. He hugged Leo closer, trying to project as much of his body warmth onto him as he could as Festus cut through the icy cold air. He took a deep breath before he spoke again.

“I’m just glad to have Leo back.”


	10. Return

Will woke up to a startling and firm hand on his shoulder.   
“Sorry, you were starting to slip off,” Jason said, gently easing Will back into an upright position. “Can’t have you falling off after everything you did today.” Jason used his head to motion to Leo, who still sat unconscious against Jason’s chest. Will nodded.  
“I’m sorry he had to go through….” Will paused, “all that.” Jason shifted in his seat on the dragon, making Leo groan in his sleep.   
“You know, there are so many times I have watched Leo evade death. It got worse every time. I remember when the Argo II was going down, Leo made us all evacuate. Watching that ship go down, I thought that for sure, this was it. Leo’s finally going to get himself killed. Then I saw him, flying in on that dragon. He seemed invincible. But Piper kept saying ‘I have the cure.’ Maybe we felt what was coming next, but when Leo-” Jason stopped as his breath hitched, getting stuck in his throat. “When he dropped me and Piper out of the sky, it felt-” he took another shaky breath, “it felt like my heart had stopped.” Jason opened his mouth, as if to say more, but nothing came out. His gaze shifted to the sunset on the horizon, and Will saw him lift his glasses to wipe tears from his eyes.   
“And then, Hazel and Frank told us about his plan, how he planned to die all along?” Piper spoke up from in front of Will. “But I saw the look Hazel and Nico shared. They knew he was dead.” She hesitated. “But I allowed myself to believe that he was still alive. I clung to that hope life my life depended on it. But the longer I waited, the less hope that I had.” She wiped her eyes and turned to face them the best that she could. “He was gone for so long.” Will could hear the pain in her voice, emphasized in every word. They flew in silence for a while, and Will watched the land fly by beneath them.  
“I know you guys blamed yourselves,” Will finally spoke up. “ That’s the problem with us demigods, we always think there’s something that we could have done better, something we could have done to change what happened. I see it in Percy all the time, for every casualty we see. Nico would kill me if he knew I told you this, but he blames himself for so many deaths, Leo’s included. As a healer, I feel responsible for every single death that happens on my watch. Every demigod who’s blood touches my hands, who takes their last breath in front of me….” Will sighed. “My point is, I understand. You blamed yourselves even though you shouldn’t have, and, when you might have finally come to terms with what happened…” Will trailed off.   
“Leo comes back,” Piper finished.   
“But he doesn’t come back in a blaze of glory, swooping in from above on Festus with a giant grin on his face.” Jason was nearly shaking with anger as he spoke. “He comes back to us in a dream. A dream where that evil ice witch is beating him, whipping him, and there’s nothing I can do about it. A dream that makes me think, again, that if I had just looked harder for him, maybe I would have found him first. Maybe I would have found him, punched him in the arm for being so stupid, and brought him home with a smile on his face. But no. I have to hold him down while we burn him, and carry him out of a frozen room.” He paused. “He’s pale, he’s cold…. He’s never been this cold before.” Will reached behind him to touch Leo’s forehead. His body temperature was low, especially for somebody who could light himself on fire. Will also noted that, while his coloration had improved, Leo was still too pale and hip lips too blue for his liking.  
“When we get back, I’ll wake him up for some nectar. He lost quite a bit of blood, and that room was cold,” Will said. “I should also look over him again.” Festus whirred at the demigods, drawing all of their attention.   
“I think we’re back,” Piper said. Sure enough, Festus broke through the clouds and descended on camp half-blood. Almost instantly, the light at the big house flicked on. As soon as the dragon touched the ground, Will slid off, turning to Jason. Jason gently lowered Leo’s unconscious form into Will’s arms, and Will promptly turned towards the big house. Jason and Piper followed quickly, and Chiron emerged to meet them halfway.   
“I imagine you were successful?” he asked, walking up to them. When he saw Leo wrapped in a blanket in Will’s arms, he faltered. “Oh my, is he?” Chiron trailed off, looking at Will.   
“Not yet,” Will said. He continued walking past Chiron towards the big house. “I need to look at him again.” Without another word, the group walked in the front door of the big house, and Will set Leo down on the couch. “I’m probably going to need some fresh bandages and some saline solution. Also, a warm compress for his back.” Will stopped in his tracks as he unfolded the blanket on Leo’s body, his eyes falling on his chest.   
“That’s not good.”


End file.
